California Dreaming
by warriors-icefire
Summary: After winning a contest, the Martin's and Hiroshima's are sent to California to receive their awards. But soon after arriving, they are forced to choose between fame and saving the ones they love. Will their shot at stardom become a deadly adventure?
1. The Results Pt 1

A/N: This is my second TSL fic. ZackXOc CodyXOc OcXOc OcXOc. Okay, just so you know, there may be some fluff. The Hiroshima family: Robert Sapporo, Rikku, Rumiku, Sydney, Patrick, and Noah all belong to DarkElements10/ BlackElements. (If you've read any of their other awesome TSL fics, you'll know that their father normally abuses them. In this fic, he doesn't abuse them, but is just cruel.)

Summary: When the Martin's and Hiroshima's win a new contest, they are sent to California to receive their prizes. But Rikku, Rumiku, Cody, and Zack share a strange feeling that something is not right. Soon after arriving, they are forced to make a choice between following their dreams and saving the ones they love. Will their one shot at stardom become and epic adventure, or does Core already have them right where he wants them?

**California Dreaming**

_Chapter 1_

_The Results _

Cody Martin (15) sat in the living room of his suite, watching the TV intently. After a moment of unusually peaceful _silence_, Zack came running in yelling, "Cody, flip it to channel 16! Hurry!"

Cody ignored his brother, and continued watching his exciting, absorbing _farming documentary._ "I said, CHANNEL 16 NOW!" Zack yelled again, this time right into his twin's ear. Cody winced and held his ear, "What's the magic word?" He sang.

Zack glared at his brother. "FU-" Cody's eyes widened and he slapped a hand over Zack's mouth. "What's so important that you have to interrupt me any way?"

"The results are on!" Zack cried and grabbed the remote. Cody didn't protest this time, on the edge of his seat now. The two boys stared at the screen in anticipation, their blue/green eyes focused on an announcer. "Hey boys! I got some-" Carey was interrupted as she walked into the suite, arms filled with brown grocery bags.

"SHH!" The twins hissed. Carey opened her mouth to speak, but Zack stopped her. "The TV's on. Unless it's important, it can wait!"

"It-it is important," Carey replied indignantly. Zack looked up at her sarcastically. "Who died then?"

"No one. I'm going on a date with Robert tonight, so I invited his kids over and got you some pizza and chocolate ice cream."

When Zack didn't even turn her way, she muttered to herself, "Who are you and what have you done with Zack?" But took a seat next to her kids.

_TV:_

The announcer was a tall, suited man, broadcasting the results of some contest. He held a microphone to his lips and slowly began to speak. "The results are in. America's Best Twin Actors will be . . . " He opened the bright white envelope in his other hand, and smiled as a flurry of camera flashes went off. Suddenly, he grinned and finished, "Well, I can't really tell you, so you'll just have to watch!" As he gestured to a huge screen mounted on the wall behind him, the camera zoomed in and a fuzzy, crudely recorded film began to play . . .

_A black and red headed girl and her apparent twin with silver and black hair appeared, flipping onto a stage suspiciously similar to the Tipton Ballroom's. Two blond haired boys followed, walking on their hands, then flipping to their feet. The girls began to sing in Japanese, while the boys countered with the English translation. One of the boys and the red and black haired girl began to sing another song, as if competing with each other for the crowd. The other two, the silver and black haired girl and the other boy, began a street fighting routine that matched the song's fast beat. _With a jolt, Carey recognized the film as last year's Tipton Talent Show, and the routine as Rikku and Rumiku, and Zack and Cody's. Thinking they had to have gotten third or fourth place in this nation wide contest, she watched the film's ending. _Rumiku and Cody finished their fighting routine at the same time as Rikku and Zack's song ended. Rikku jumped up onto Zack's shoulders, and Rumiku and Cody stood on either side of them. _Carey remembered the crowd going insane. _An image of Cody, Rumiku, Zack, and Rikku holding up four big gold trophies and laughing flashed momentarily across the screen._ Carey gaped at the TV, then at her twins, then back at the TV.

The camera zoomed back out, revealing a cheering crowd and the announcer clapping. He turned toward the crowd again, "And there you have it . . . For the first time ever, we have joint winners: Zack and Cody Martin, and Rikkula and Rumila Hiroshima. They are being notified as we speak, and they are scheduled to fly down to San Jose tomorrow. They land at noon, and will receive their prizes, live on Channel 16 USA News, at 10:00 that night." Carey tore her gaze from the TV as the man began to rattle off their hotel, services, and the contest's sponsors. When the show went to an energy drink commercial and she clicked it off. "Why didn't you tell me you entered this contest?" Her heart raced from shock and her voice shook as she struggled to keep it stern. Giving up, she squealed, "I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO CALIFORNIA!"

But Zack and Cody hadn't even moved through out the show, their widened eyes still fixed on the blank screen. Meanwhile, a somewhat different situation was going on in the Hiroshima's suite . . .


	2. The Results Pt 2

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of California Dreaming, from right across the hall in the Hiroshima's suite. I know it's pretty short, but I hope it turned out pretty good!  
**

**Chapter 2**

The Results Pt. 2

"You WHAT!?" Julius yelled, his blue eyes wide. Rikku and Rumiku stepped back, exchanging a glance. They waited for the lecture they knew was coming, on how they should have told Julius about the contest, and how they should just try to get by unnoticed here with their whole elemental thing, and on and on and on. But the lecture never came.

Julius called out Sydney, Patrick, and Noah from their rooms. "What's goin' on?" Sydney asked as he and the other twins came in.

Julius ran a hand through his blue bangs, pausing.

Rikku and Rumiku exchanged a second glance. Julius wasn't even mad that they hadn't told him about the contest?

"Start packing. We're going to San Fransisco." Was all he said, before dragging some identical black duffel bags from a closet. Rikku's cautious smirk turned into a glowing smile.

* * *

Robert walked into the suite to find the six kids packing. "What's going on here?" He growled, setting his coke down on the kitchen table. He'd come home in a bad mood a lot lately, since the doctors had announced that he shouldn't be drinking beer so often, hence the coke. 

Julius smiled carefully, "Well, um, Rikku and Rumiku won a contest and we're kinda scheduled to go down to San Fransisco to receive our prize. The people on TV called and told us our flight is in the morning. Hehe . . . Surprise! We're leaving tomorrow."

Robert frowned, "We most certainly are not!" He grabbed Noah's suite case and dumped out all his neatly folded clothes.

"But-But-But . . . " Rikku, Rumiku, Noah, Patrick, and Sydney protested. Julius just smiled and shook his head,

"It'll be fun." Sydney pouted.

"It's completely free." Noah softly reasoned.

"We'll be on TV!" Patrick chimed in.

"We HAVE to go!" Rikku and Rumiku insisted in unison.

"No!" Was Robert's firm reply.

Rikku glared at the off-white carpet of the floor, before giving Julius her "I-can't-believe-you-aren't-going-to-do-anything!" look. He shot her a _huge_ grin in reply to her insisting stare.

While Sydney, Noah, and Patrick whined, Julius stepped in. "Um, since Zack and Cody were also winners, Carey will be-" Before he could finish his sentence, Robert's eyes brightened.

"Carey will be there! I was just thinking that of course!" Robert had a dreamy look on his face, before turning back to his children. "Don't just stand there! Like I said before, get packing!"

"Okay!" The six grinned and Rumiku mouthed, "Thank you," to Julius.

Robert gave them a stern look. They paused before remembering and quickly correcting themselves, "_Yes, sir_!"

Noah began picking his clothes up from the floor. The six laughed when Robert absentmindedly dragged Noah's suitcase into his room. After a moment, they heard the sound of drawers opening and closing and Robert's voice drifting through the closed door, "I'll need two pairs of pants, then three pairs of shorts, then six pairs of these, and then eight more pairs of those. . . "

Julius shook his head and got Noah the spare suitcase.

* * *

Rikku, Zack, Cody, and Rumiku were spending the night together in the Martin's suite while their parents were on a date. They watched a movie in their sleeping bags and talked about what California would be like. 

"I can't wait!" Cody grinned, his blue eyes gleaming in the light of the tv.

"Yeah, we finally get to make a name for ourselves," Rikku smirked.

"What do you mean by that?" Zack asked.

Rikku hesitated before replying. "Well, with our elements, we've always had to try to get by unnoticed. Sure, school's a different story, but when you live like we do it can get frustrating. Our band can't preform anywhere but the Tipton, we can't hang out at the mall and skate park unless we're with you and our brothers, we never have many friends since we always move around so much, we can't just trust people we meet, - it even took time to start trusting Max and Tapeworm.

We have so many talents, so many things we want to be known for besides "the kids who will be half-way across the country in a few months from now". We just can't live like normal people!" Her red eyes narrowed until she continued. Cody gave her a sympathetic smile.

"When we go to San Fransisco, all that is going to change. People will actually recognize us as more than that. I won't have to worry about people finding out about our elements because we'll be preforming as our band, entering skateboarding competitions and stuff like that. We'll still train with our elements, but we won't have to worry about being attacked in public or anything. It's like . . ." Rikku trailed off, and Rumiku finished for her softly.

"Like I'll be free. Like _we'll_ be free . . ." Rumiku's purple eyes reflected her quiet thoughts before she sighed and smiled sadly at the night sky through the sunroof above them. "I can't believe it'll finally happen after all these years. I can't say I don't have regrets about not being able to live freely for my life. I have lots actually."

The movie had ended a while ago, and the room was calm and quiet. In the darkness, Cody slowly squeezed Rumiku's hand and smiled, "Good night, guys."

"Yeah, night," Were Zack and Rikku's replies. Rumiku was quiet for another moment before whispering, "Good night Cody." She turned to face him and drifted into a light sleep.

* * *

Rumiku's POV

An hour later, my eyes shot open and I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my left hand. My breathing came in shallow, quick gasps until I calmed down. I couldn't explain my dream, or nightmare, and I wasn't sure if I'd even had one.

It was more of a dark presence in my sleep, a warning, a threat, a silent prophecy. I felt like bolting upright and waking Cody up to talk, because he was always there to listen to my problems and, if I felt like sharing, sometimes even my fears. I realized the only thing keeping me from jumping up was Cody.

He was still holding my hand and sleeping, like Zack and Rikku. But I could tell from their shallow breathing and uneasy presence that they could sense the same thing too. Something was so wrong it was overpowering, like a shadow on a clear day, or the feeling of being followed when no one is physically there.

_Some thing is wrong, and we can all sense it. I know it will have to do with this contest, and interfering with our dreams. But this is our shot, our one chance, and I'm not going to let it slip by. Even if I have to fight for it, I _will_ make sure we follow our dreams this time._

Looking at Cody one last time, I closed my eyes and was able to find, if uneasy, sleep for the night. My friends made me feel safer until it was time to wake up and face the day ahead of us.


	3. Plane to Stardom

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait! I hope you're still enjoying the story, so if you have any comments or corrections, please review or pm me! Thanks to DarkElements10 for their concerns about updating! (Sorry it's so short.)  
**

**Chapter 3**

Plane to Stardom

Regular POV

Early – too early as Patrick put it – that morning, Rikku, Rumiku, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Cody, and Zack all piled into their parent's cars and began the drive to the Boston International Airport. They arrived shortly and hauled their bags inside to the California Gate.

"That's weird," Noah swept a few strands of his silver hair from his eyes and looked around. "We purposely got here an hour early, but it's already crowded. I don't think this many people would normally be here so early. Our flight is at 8:30 and it's only 6:30."

"Yeah, and why are people staring at us all of the sudden?" Patrick asked, uneasily.

Zack and Cody looked around. "Maybe they recognize us as the contest winners already!" They replied in unison. As if the bystanders had heard them, there were murmurs of, "Look at the winner!" and "Weren't those kids on TV yesterday?"

"Hehehe, uh, maybe we should, um, get going now . . ." Rumiku muttered. Finally, a young boy broke the awkward muttering and silence. He looked up at Zack, Cody, Rumiku, and Rikku, then came hurrying over.

"Hey! You guys are the winners of that contest! Can I have your autographs?" The short blond haired kid held out a little Star Wars notebook and a red marker he had been doodling with.

"Um, sure." Cody smiled and shrugged, the first to step forward and neatly print his signature. After him, came Rikku, Zack, and Rumiku, all bearing Cody's look of slight amusement. When they had finished, the little kid ran back over to his mother and baby sister, smiling brightly.

"Thank you!" He held the notebook close, and waved. More and more people were beginning to crowd around the four teenagers, wanting signatures. The Martin's and Hiroshima's fought their way through them and over to the front desk.

"Excuse me, when does the flight to San Fransisco leave?" Robert politely inquired the teenage working there. She tapped a few keys on the keyboard and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Um, you happen to be in the wrong gate. May I see your tickets?"

Carey handed them to the girl, and her eyes widened slightly. "There happens to be a slight problem. These tickets are misprinted, they will still be accepted, but your flight leaves in four minutes. It's at Gate B16." She looked up to see the two families sprinting away. "It's to the left and down three gates!" She yelled after them, barely able to tell that they'd heard them.

The eight reached the connector just as a flight attendant began to close and lock the door. "Wait!" Zack yelled. The short woman stopped abruptly, popping the bubble she'd been blowing in her gum. A smile spread across her face.

"You wouldn't happen to be the two families, the Martin's and the-" She began.

"Hiroshima's!" Patrick finished nodding. The woman reopened the gate and spoke into her walkie talkie. She laughed. "You don't know just how lucky you are! Hurry, the plane is about to take off!" They all hurried to their seats and got settled just as the plane shot down the runway and into the sky, leaving their home behind . . .


	4. First Night in Paradise

**A/N: And Chapter 4 is up! I know it's really short, and sorry about the extremely long wait . . . hehehe . . . (This chapter was a few days later than I expected. I had a death in my family, and I've been really busy the last few days.)**

**Chapter 4**

First Night in "Paradise"

Regular POV

Zack sat up with a jolt, his sides heaving and his blonde hair matted with sweat. He took a trembling breath and realized that he was in his enormous bed at the San Francisco Tipton. And that it was 3:13 in the morning.

Sighing, Zack ran a hand through his damp hair and slid out of bed, trying hard to forget his nightmare -whatever it had been about. He glanced at himself briefly in a mirror on the wall and shrugged.

He was wearing a grey t-shirt and had on a pair of black sweat pants. Figuring that would be fine since he was only going outside, he crept over to his red backpack, which was sitting underneath the window that stretched across the entire wall of his room. He unzipped it quietly, so as not to wake Cody or his mom in their rooms.

Pulling his soccer ball out of the bag, Zack grabbed one of the card keys to their room from the counter, thrust it into his pocket, and walked out of the Master Suite they were living in for a while. The front door of their suite opened up to an outdoor stair case that led to the ground, while the back door opened up to a hallway near the elevator.

At the bottom of the staircase, Zack took the gravel path that led to a small field behind the hotel, surrounded by a thin section of trees. The only sound that penetrated the peaceful clearing was the soft swish of the water in the empty pool nearby and the distant rumble of cars in the parking lot and on the streets.

A few lights on the side of the building cast a dim glow over the area, as Zack absent-mindedly began to kick the soccer ball against the side of the building. He ignored the muffled groans, and "Shut up! People are trying to sleep in here!" that came from inside the hotel.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, he had come out here to think. But an eerie presence, something far deeper and mysterious and darker and subtler than even the Darkness, was drifting over the clearing. Zack grabbed his ball and hurried up the stairs. But at the top as he turned, he glimpsed a dark cloud drifting over the moon in the shape of an outstretched hand.

As he slipped back into his suite unnoticed and crawled back inside his bed, in the far back of his consciousness, he perceived the words, "They're coming . . ." and then everything went black . . .

"ZACK!" Cody woke his twin up the next morning, as he stood at the stove making pancakes for his family.

"Ughhhh . . . What?" Zack groaned as he dragged himself out of bed. Pulling himself up onto a stool at the kitchen counter, he positioned his head on his arms and watched Cody cheerfully zip around the kitchen, an obvious morning person.

"Breakfast?" Cody thrust a plate full of blueberry pancakes under Zack's nose.

Zack inhaled deeply and nodded, sitting up straight as he took a bite, "Thanks. They're good. How do you get up so early?"

"I'm just a morning person," Cody replied, smiling. "So what are you going to do after breakfast? I have something to show you."

"I was going to go to the gym here. I think it's on the 20th floor. Soccer tryouts are three days after we're scheduled to get back to Boston, and I want to kick ass."

"So that's why you were sneaking out last night with your soccer ball," Cody smirked.

"How did you find out?"

"Hmm, considering you were kicking the soccer ball against the building, right underneath my window, it wasn't that hard." Cody laughed.

Zack finished eating and went down to the gym for a couple hours while Cody cleaned up the kitchen and read his new book, titled "The Advanced Macro-invertebrate Studies of 1993." When Zack finally came back into the suite, filthy and exhausted, Cody jumped up from his chair and grinned, "There you are! I've been waiting for you."

"So what is this surprise?" Zack asked, leaning against the wall.

"Come over here," Cody motioned for him to approach the window. When he drew back the heavy curtains, the dim room was filled with light. Zack's jaw dropped and he stared speechlessly out the window at the San Francisco view.

Some of the most colorful, incredible buildings Zack had ever seen stretched across the horizon, the steep hills rolling up and down for as far as could be seen, and the Golden Gate Bridge visible beyond the sheer cliffs of the San Francisco Bay. But one thing stood out above anything he saw.

On the top of one of the buildings near the Tipton, an enormous billboard of Zack, Cody, Rikku, and Rumiku was positioned perfectly for anyone in their room to see. Smaller posters of he four friends were taped up in several store windows below. "We're . . . famous . . ." Zack whispered, unable to believe his own words.

"Yep," Cody replied proud, but his confidence faltered for a moment. "The question is, do we want to be?"

"Hey guys," Sydney's familiar voice announced the presence of the Hiroshima's. Sydney, Patrick, Noah, Rikku, and Rumiku walked into the suite. They stopped short at the window, and Rumiku rolled her eyes, "Oh, you've already seen the pictures of us up all around the city."

"Ye- Wait a second!" Zack exclaimed. "How'd you guys get in here? The door was locked."

Patrick and Noah began whistling innocently and shuffling towards the door. Rikku grinned and replied, "Pat, Noah, and Sydney stole one of the master keys. Turns out the manager here is Mr. Moseby's cousin, Mr. Marcus. Striking resemblance, including the fact that he hates kids. Mr. Moseby warned him about us him."

Zack and Cody laughed. "I guess we'll have to show him just why Mr. Moseby decided to warn him about us!" Zack grinned, and everyone recognized the look on his face.

"You've got a plan!" Rikku's smirk turned into a smile, and she gave him a high-five. "So what is it?"

"Well, I was thinking that if the lobby here is set up like the one at the Boston Tipton-"

"It is," Sydney spoke up, grinning like Zack.

"Good! We figure out how to rig the elevator so it shoots a water balloon straight across the lobby every time it opens. And, if Syd's right, that should be right at Mr. Marcus's desk!"

"Nice!" Cody laughed, and the gang all agreed with Zack.

"So who wants to-" Zack stopped short, looking out the window at the billboard again. "Okay, I am never going to get used to seeing that. I can't believe how we instantly became famous anyway."

"It seems too good to be true . . ." Rumiku remarked slowly.

"We're living the _life_!" Zack argued, gesturing around at the luxurious suite.

"Yeah, just not _our_ life," Cody pointed out.

"But being famous is what we wanted all along," Rikku said firmly. "Isn't it? . . . "

_That was one question that none of them could answer . . ._


End file.
